Broken
by AdenaMentzel
Summary: Callie shows up on Addison's doorstep in desperate need of repair.  Please R&R.
1. Chapter 1

Addison sat motionless at her kitchen table. She didn't know how to respond to the bombshell that had just been dropped upon her.

She had known that Callie and George were having marital problems, and had even suspected that George had been cheating on Callie, well, heck she practically knew that from the start—Izzie had basically confessed her sins to Addison. For some reason, however, she had not expected that this affair, this man would have had the ability to break Calliope Torres this badly. She seemed like a tough, resilient woman who would be able to spring right back up from this blow, utterly unscathed. Why Addison believed that anyone would be entirely capable of doing that was irrelevant, as the fact was that she was indeed utterly shocked.

Less than an hour ago, a completely soaked to the bone Callie had appeared at Addison's doorstep. It should be noted that it was only now three o'clock in the morning. It should also be noted that while it was raining in Seattle a couple of hours ago, it hadn't rained in LA in the past several days. Both of these were cause for concern. Callie had been utterly soaked—beyond soaked, to the point of dripping, the point where she would have literally been able to ring out every article of clothing that was wearing productively. In that state she had boarded a plane at the last minute. At least she hadn't thought to drive from Seattle to LA in that state.

When Addison opened the door, Callie had said nothing. She had just stood there in the doorway, motionless, save for the multitudes of tears streaming down her face. She hadn't needed to say anything. It was fairly obvious that if something had left her distraught enough that she would have come to Addison in the dead of the night, it had to be big, and it pretty much had to be related to her marriage. These assumptions were dead on.

Addison had shown Callie to the guest room (where, fortunately, the bed was made and not only was everything in proper working order, but also meticulously decorated to suit Addison's taste perfectly. Not that it much mattered with Callie in such a state, but still). Callie had entered the room and thrown the small bag that she had brought with her onto the floor before sitting down on the bed and staring blankly in front of her.

Addison had tried in vain to get any sort of response out of Callie about anything at all, about what exactly had happened, but she was in such a detached and zombie-like state that this task proved to be impossible. Instead, Addison opted to help Callie change into dry clothing and get into the bed to warm up. If she couldn't fix her friend internally at the moment, the least she could do was prevent her from getting pneumonia or hypothermia or…something.

And so Addison sat at her kitchen table, not knowing what to think or do, but certain of the fact that sleep would not come tonight…and more than likely Oceanside would be without a GYN the following day (which was the upside of having so few patients in a given day).


	2. Chapter 2

Addison sat on the floor in her the guest bedroom, leaning against the wall, staring at the sleeping figure within the bed. It was already a quarter past noon, and the raven-haired woman was still sleeping restlessly, undisturbed by the bright California sunlight.

Addison had been unable to sleep at all the previous night, having been far too worried about her friend. She had been sitting in this position for hours now and hadn't even been able to doze for a couple of minutes, though she wasn't entirely sure of why—she didn't even really know what her being awake would do to benefit Callie in this state (as a matter of fact, she knew that it would most likely be more beneficial if she were well-rested because she would be better able to handle whatever was to come).

In part the insomnia also came from the fact that she had kept George's infidelity a secret from one of her best friends because she had thought that the whole thing would blow over and she would never have to worry about it. Additionally, she had up and left, out of the blue, abandoning her friend, leaving her there to deal with her crumbling life and the fact that her husband had chosen his ex-lingerie model mistress over his wife while they were trying to conceive. He had fallen very quickly out of love with Callie, and it had not been the same for her at all. She was left aboard a sinking ship of Titanic proportions, trying in vain to bail out the water with a ladle. Addison had been pretty much completely unavailable to all of her friends in Seattle ever since she moved in because she was trying to get herself completely adjusted to the new environment without any ties to the place that she had just left so that she could start completely anew without any complications weighing her down as they had been for the past several years.

Needless to say, that was probably not the best course of action—she had learned that after Derek had left. Savvy and Naomi had been pissed (even though Nae lived across the country), as had Derek's sisters…and pretty much anyone she had known in New York. She never had been very well-versed in the rules of friendship, and she had definitely always been very socially awkward. Though Derek had found it endearing, it had always been a problem for her in terms of getting close to anyone else.

Callie began to stir in the bed, then suddenly sat bolt upright in the bed, seemingly unaware of her surroundings and rather disoriented, though understandably so.

"Good morning, sunshine," Addison greeted from her place on the floor, one eyebrow raised in amusement. Callie jumped, not seeming to have noticed Addison's presence in the room. Addison pushed herself up off of the floor and sat on the edge of the bed, "Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. How are you feeling?" Callie sighed.

"It's okay. I feel like shit."

"Well, that makes sense. Do you want to talk about it?"

"Uh…" she contemplated, pinching the bridge of her nose, then rubbing her temples, "Not right now, no. Got any aspirin?" Addison gestured to two pills on a napkin beside a glass of water that were sitting on the nightstand. "Thanks."

"Hey, that's what friends are for, right?" Callie chuckled,

"You'd know better than I would."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing…just that…I never really had very many friends…let alone people who had any interest in me other than taking advantage of me for whatever reason…money, sex, what have you." Addison rolled her eyes,

"That sounds awfully familiar. No wonder we're friends."

"Really? I can't imagine you not having friends."

"I was a band geek. I was long and lanky, I had braces and I played the clarinet. I didn't know how to manage my hair or my skin and I was continuously growing about a mile a minute, which meant also that I was very physically awkward. People only talked to me when they thought they could get something out of it…usually meaning money. Oh, or if they wanted to make fun of me."

"Well…I was the fat kid. I also had braces…acne, the unkempt hair…I was an early bloomer, as they say. I had these things," she said gesturing to her breasts, "when I was eight, and I had hit this height by twelve. I was a freak. The guys did like the boobs though…a lot of things happened to me because of it that probably shouldn't have…"

"Ugh. I'm so glad not to be there anymore."

"Agreed." Callie's eyes became distant, and Addison was unsure of exactly what had set her off, but was almost certain that she was once again thinking about her failed marriage. Hell, she had been there not so very long ago herself. She only hoped that this time she would be able to do her friend a little bit of good rather than hurting her like she seemed to do every time that anyone got close to her. In an effort to break the silence and get Callie talking again, Addison suggested that they move to the kitchen, where there was coffee waiting for them. Once they were settled at the table, Addison tried to engage her friend in light conversation.

"So…what's the buzz in Seattle? Anything interesting or dramatic going on with any of my boys?" Callie chuckled,

"You know there is always something going on with those three."

"Are Derek and Meredith still together?" Addison wasn't even entirely sure why she asked—she knew that she shouldn't care one way or the other. She almost hoped that they were still together and that they were making things worked. She hoped that he had found his happiness, just as she someday hoped that she would herself.

"Well…I don't think that they are at the moment, actually. I mean, they are sleeping together but they are technically "broken up". I don't really know what that means, to be honest." Addison laughed out loud.

"That's ridiculous. What about the other two?"

"Well…I don't know about Karev, I don't see him around much…Mark mopes a lot, but he's getting better...though not as much as he did at first, which is a good thing."

"He'll get over it." Callie nodded absently, spacing out again. Addison waved her hand in front of Callie's face, "Hello? Anyone in there?" Callie shook her head, trying to clear it of her unpleasant thoughts about George and Izzie.

"Sorry…I…sorry."

"Callie, what's going on?"

"It's…"

"Don't say 'it's nothing'. You flew out here in the middle of the night, soaking wet and totally out of it. I don't want to push you, but…it might help to talk about it."

"It's George. He slept with Izzie. And I…I tried to forgive him. I thought I had forgiven him. And I…I bitched out some asshole patient's boyfriend and almost lost my job because of it and I almost beat the shit out of him...except Miranda came out and saved my ass again…she kept reaching out to me and asking me if I was okay but I couldn't talk to her about it I couldn't do it. I told him I had forgiven him because that's what you do, that's what marriage is but I couldn't do that either. So I just froze…I just went out into the parking lot and I just stood there in the rain. I told him that I didn't forgive him…that I don't forgive him. I don't understand it. I thought that we were okay, that everything was great, I tried so hard to trust Izzie…so hard in fact that I had convinced myself that I was crazy but I wasn't…I went back to the hotel and I sat on the bed in the dark for a while but I knew that I needed to get out of there before I self-destructed…I can't even function anymore. I didn't know what else to do…so I hopped on a plane…and here I am. I know that he made a mistake and I want so much just to forgive him but I don't know what to do. I don't understand what drives a person to do something like that…I just don't get it…does he not love me? Am I just not good enough?" Addison took her broken friend in her arms and just held her. Callie wasn't crying, but rather she looked utterly destroyed. It was like there were no tears left for her to cry. Her entire world had been turned upside down and she didn't know what to make of it. It broke Addison's heart to see what this had done to Callie, and she couldn't help but remember what her own infidelity had done to Derek…how awful that night was with the storm, how perfectly matched the weather had been to the intense emotions that they had both felt that night, the way that they both knew that their life together was over and had come crashing down all because of one unfortunate event.

"Callie…I don't know why George and Izzie did this. I don't know because I wasn't there and I wasn't inside of his head, and I don't know what their feelings are for each other, but I am so sorry that this had to happen to you. You don't deserve this. Derek didn't deserve it when I slept with Mark, either. God, I wish I knew why these things happened. I mean, I understand why I did it…I was so sick and tired of being ignored—he had stopped caring about anything having to do with me at all. He sent Mark to be his replacement…and he was just so perfect, so genuine…and I was numb. I took advantage of him because I wanted to feel."

"I wish that there was a problem in our marriage that I could just pinpoint, you know? Derek was indifferent to you. But if anything, George was the one who was indifferent to me. I tried. I reached out to him so many times and he just…stood me up. His head was always somewhere else, and more often than not, so was his body. He just…completely lost interest in me altogether. I don't know what I did wrong…and he wouldn't tell me. I just felt him slipping away."

"Maybe he thought he was in love with her. Maybe…they were confused and maybe they still are. Maybe they were drunk and horny and had sex with one another and thought that it actually meant something."

"Maybe it did actually mean something. The first time that I asked him if something was going on with Izzie, he said that it would never happen because she would never go for him, like she was out of his league or something. I think he was settling with me because he knew that he could get me and he has so little self-confidence that…" her voice trailed off, thick with emotion.

"Maybe what?" Addison asked gently. "Maybe he settled with you because he didn't find you wildly attractive and desirable? I find that hard to believe—look at you! You're gorgeous." Callie snorted,

"Yeah, right. It was obvious that he found her to be way more attractive than he found me. I mean, she's hot. She's a fucking Barbie doll! Then there's me…the average woman." Addison stared at Callie, astounded,

"Are you telling me that you are unattractive? You of all people."

"It's the truth. God, I mean, I'm a doctor. I should be able to maintain a healthy weight."

"Jesus Christ, Callie! What is this bullshit? You are hot and you know it."

"Then what the fuck does she have that I don't?"

"I don't know, Cal. I wish I could tell ya. All I can say is that George is a moron for not appreciating what he had. I know that you love him, but you don't deserve to be treated that way. Did he seem apologetic at all?"

"Not…really. He just seemed scared. He didn't want me to be mad, but at the same time he wanted me to react. I didn't give him much to go on, I know that…" Addison cleared her throat.

"I think…if he is apologetic and he really does want you back and acknowledges that is was a mistake that maybe he deserves a second chance…from personal experience, obviously…but I know that is nearly impossible to do, also from personal experience. At the same time, though, from what you've told me…he doesn't seem to be very concerned with fixing this. I mean, I know that he felt bad about…you know…destroying me and our marriage, but…he didn't seem remorseful."

"He didn't."

"Didn't what?"

"He didn't acknowledge that it was a mistake. That was my word. Mistake was my word. He didn't want to fix it. He just needed to tell me because he had a guilty conscience. But I am glad that he told me. At least it is definite now…I can't be in denial any longer. He at least had the decency to tell the truth, and I guess that is all that I could really hope for."

"You deserved to know. I should have told you sooner."

"Addison…what are you talking about?" Callie looked perplexed and suspicious

"You know that day that I told you that if you were suspicious, there was probably a reason for it?"

"Yeah…"

"Izzie came to me…because I am apparently the go-to person for adultery. She asked me what she should do, because apparently she thinks that she is in love with George. I told her to stop it, obviously, and I wanted so much to tell you…"

"So why the fuck didn't you? Jesus Christ, Addison!"

"I don't know. I didn't think that it was my place. I know that you are my friend and my loyalty lies with you first and foremost, but…I know that accidents happen. And I thought that O'Malley would come clean about it. And I guess another part of me was still thinking in terms of being an adulterous bitch. I thought that if they just stopped it everything would be okay…like I said, accidents happen. I would have never thought that George would be the kind of person to hide something like that. I was going to tell Derek as soon as he came home that night, although obviously that was a non-issue…but Callie, I am so, so sorry. I know that what I did was wrong, but I really want to help you now…please, let me help you." Callie sighed heavily,

"I'm not mad at you, Addison. We weren't all that close, and Izzie was confiding in you. I'm just mad at myself for ignoring the signs. I knew that something was wrong."

"Nobody wants to believe that their marriage is falling apart. Trust me, I know. I've been there. I kept up hope right through to the very end, even though Derek continued to punish me and punish me, I still thought that one day, he would have punished me enough and we could go back to the way that things used to be in New York. God, that was stupid. But it's human. We try to see the good in the ones that we love and try to hold on to them, no matter how badly they treat us."

"Gotta love that masochism," Callie said, leaning back in her chair and sighing, "So. Where do we go from here?"


End file.
